Current Reality

Understanding the Bible

Read these passages below a couple of times and answer the following questions.

Leviticus 19:34

34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Hebrews 13:1-2

1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Romans 12:13

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Summary Teaching

Read these excerpts from "Hospitality is Courageous" by Matt Chandler.

In a post-Christian world, God’s people are called to operate not out of fear, but out of courage. And when we live courageously, putting our hope in the reality of who he is and what he has already accomplished, it changes everything. We’re freed up to be the people of God living out the mission of God despite what new and challenging thing comes our way.

When we talk about what it means to be courageous and faithful in the age of unbelief, we have to talk about the Great Commission. That’s our mission. And though it’s always been true, I think it’s more true than ever to say that evangelism is going to look like hospitality.

True Biblical Hospitality

Hospitality might sound unexciting or initially feel confusing. But when the Bible speaks of hospitality, it almost always ties it to aliens and strangers—people who aren’t like us. If I had to come up with a biblical definition for hospitality, I’d say it means to give loving welcome to those outside your normal circle of friends.

I think it’s more true than ever to say that evangelism is going to look like hospitality. . . . Living courageously will involve living hospitably.

Now why would the Bible be so serious about hospitality? If I could just boil it down to its most simple truth, it’s because God has been hospitable to us. Even when we were living as his enemies, God came and saved us. He opened the door and invited us into his presence. We demonstrate that we truly appreciate the divine hospitality we have received as we extend our own hospitality to those around us.

I’m not suggesting that biblical hospitality is the silver bullet for making evangelism work in the 21st century (news flash: there is no silver bullet). But might it not be, in our cynical, polarizing, critical, dumpster-fire culture, that a warm dose of welcoming hospitality will take some folks by surprise and open up the door for opportunities to make disciples of Jesus Christ?

Four Ways to Show Hospitality

The God of the universe is serious about hospitality. It can create an entry point for living out the Great Commission and evangelizing our neighbors, especially in the age of unbelief.

1. Welcome Everyone You Meet

I think the best thing to do is literally greet everyone you see. That’s an easy thing to do if you’re wired like me—I’m a grade-A extrovert. That’s hard if you’re an introvert, and right now you’re thinking, Can we just go to number two, please? But often the best things to do are the hardest things to do. Pray for grace, ask for strength, and, well, greet people.

2. Engage People

Remember that everyone you meet is eternal. You’ve never met a mere mortal, and you have never met someone who doesn’t bear God’s image. So care about and take an interest in those you run across. I don’t think this is overly difficult. We simply need to ask open-ended questions and let our inner curiosity out.

3. Make Dinner a Priority

The Bible, over and over again, talks about the holiness of eating together. Long dinners with good food, good drink, good company, and good conversations that center around our beliefs, hopes, fears—that’s a good dinner. The Bible says that’s holy.

Oh, and I don’t mean dinner with friends. Yes, eat with your church small group, invite over your good friends, but remember that hospitality is to give loving welcome to those outside your normal circle of friends. It’s opening your life and your house to those who believe differently than you do.

4. Love the Outsider

In every work environment, every neighborhood, there are people who, for whatever reason, are kind of outliers. These men and women are all around you—perhaps more so than ever in our globalized world. Because of the way sin affects us, we tend to run away from differences and from being around people who think differently and look differently than we do.

We love the outsider because we were the outsider. Jesus Christ would have moved toward those people. God extends radical hospitality to me and you. We love the outsider because we were the outsider.

It All Starts with Courage

As dark and dire as the landscape may appear right now, we know that the battle has already been won—and that means we don’t have to fight. This age of unbelief looks big and intimidating for the church, but it’s simply a small subplot in a bigger, better story—the greatest story ever told.

And, in a truly spectacular paradox, there’s a yawning chasm between God’s story and our stories. While there are spiritual realities and significant things at work, we’re called to simple, everyday faithfulness that works itself out in lives marked by hospitality.

In some ways, it’s the big, flashy acts—the kind of stuff we photograph, slap a filter on, and show our “friends” online—that go most noticed and yet require the least of us. I’m convinced that Christian courage probably looks more like inviting a group of strangers into your home for dinner than the attractive, successful ideas we’ve dreamed up in our minds.

These sorts of things actually require courage, because they force us to rely on the Lord and his strength—and not our own. When we open up our homes and build friendships with those who don’t look like us, believe like us, or act like us, we open up our lives and make ourselves vulnerable. We risk getting hurt and making enemies with those who don’t think the way we think or act the way we act. Yet we can do it because of the hope, strength, and courage we get from the Lord. (article end) https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/hospitality-courageous/

Loving the Strangers in Your Church

As a church grows to more than 50 members, it's natural to come across new faces in the community. However, it's essential to make a conscious effort to show hospitality and build new friendships within the spiritual family. The often starts with getting to know each other's names, exchanging phone numbers, and then sharing each other's stories. As these connections deepen, we start to understand each other's concerns, needs, and callings. In this environment, we can fulfill our collective responsibility as the body of Christ. Our aim is to embrace new people into a connected and welcoming community where they are known and loved.

Personal Challenge

End Session #9